Machine for branding hams, &amp;c.



No. 653.9I5.

Patented lulyA I7, |900. R. D. KINYUN.

`MACHINE FDR BRANDING HAMS, &c.

(Application led Aug. 8, 1899.)

3V Sheets-Sheet l,

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Nn. 653,915. Patented Iuly I7, |900. R. D. KINYUN.

MACHINE FORv BRANDING HAMS, &c.

. (Application died Aug. B, 1899.) (nu nodal.) .3 sham-sheet 2.

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No. 653,9I5. Patented July I7, |900.

R. D. KINYON.

, NTTED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

ROBERT D. KINYON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS..

MACHINE FOR BRANDING HAIVIS, 80C.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,915, dated July 17, 1900.

Application tiled August 8, 1899.

270 @ZZ whom it may con/cern.-

Beit known that I, ROBERT D. KINYON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Branding Hams, dac., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for branding hams and other like articles,and has 1o for its object to provide an automatic mechanism whereby brands or distinguishingmarks may be readily and distinctly applied to any desired portion of articles of this class.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features, which I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of the apparatus embodying 2o my invention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detailed perspective View,

on an enlarged scale, of one of the carriers;

and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the same.

In the said drawings, 1 indicates a suitable z5 frame in bearings in which is mounted a shaft 2, on which are secured the sprocket-wheels 3, which actuate the carriers. The shaft 2 is located at the rear end of the machine, and at the forward end thereof is located a parallel 3o shaft 4, mounted in bearings 5, which are adcarriers passes, the sprocket-wheels 8 beingV idle wheels, while the sprocket-wheels 3 are the driving-wheels. f

The carriers are arranged to form an endless flexible chain, and a plurality of such car- 4o riers is employed, which are constructed in the following manner: Each carrier comprises a bed-plate 9, which is provided on its under side, near each lateral edge, with a shoe 9, which is curved to fit the circumference of the wheels 3 and 8, between the sprockets 5o this end each saddle is provided with 'a longitudinal slot 11 and with a bearing-plate 12, countersunk into its under surface, coeXten- Serial No. 726,505. (No modeh) sive with the slot 11 and provided with a slot 13 of less width than the slot 11. The bedplate 9 is provided with a central aperture y14,

" and a bolt 15 is employed the body portion whereof extends through the slot 13 and aperture 14, while its head 16 tits within the slot 11 and rests upon the upper surface of the bearing-plate l2. A hand-nut 17 iits upon the threaded lower end ofthe bolt 15 and serves when tightened to clamp the several parts firmly together. It will be seen that the saddle or holder 10 is not only capable of pivotal adjustment with the bolt 15 as a center, but also capable of longitudinal or radial adjustment in any direction upon the bedplate 9 within the limits of the slot.

Each saddle or holder is provided with a central recess or depression 18, to receive the` body of theham,and with agroove 19,in which the hoek of the ham rests when the machine is being so used as to place the brand upon the body of the ham. There is also provided at one end of the saddle or holder a raised shoulder 20, which has therein a correspondingly-raised notch 21 to receive the heck when it is desired to place the brand upon that portion of the ham.

The endless chain of carriers is built up by connecting the adjacent ends of each pair of shoes 5) by means of two parallel links 22, the arrangements being such that the sprockets 23 of the wheels 3 and 8 pass up between the links 22, the shoes 9a resting upon the smooth intervening portions of the wheels. In order to give the carriers a step-by-step or intermittent movement, I provide upon uprights 24, arising from the frame 1, a shaft 25, which is driven in any suitable manneras, for instance, by means of a pulley 26, which receives a driving-belt. This shaft 25 is provided at one end with a crank-wheel 27, to which is connected' the upper end of the pitman 28. The lower end of the pitman 28 is connected to alever 29, loosely mounted on the shaft 2, and the connection between said pitman and lever is adjustable to regulate the throw or movement of said lever. In the drawings I have shown this adjustment as eected by providingaseries of holes 30, located at differentvdistances from the center of movement of the lever, so that the connectingpin 31, which forms the pivotal IOO connection between the pitlna-n and lever, may be inserted through any one of the holes 30 and through a corresponding hole in the lower end of the pitman. The lever 29 is provided with a pawl 32, and there is secured on the shaft 2 a'ratchet-wheel 33, with the teeth of which said pawl successively engages.

The branding-die is indicated at 34 and its heater at 35, the two parts being removably connected by means ot suitable clips 36. The several parts of the branding device proper may be of any suitable construction, and that shown is for the purpose of illustration only. It is attached to and supported from a crosshead 37, which moves in suitableways 38 in the uprights 24. Above the cross-head 37 is a similar cross-head 39, also vertically movable in the ways 38 and having a reciprocating motion imparted to it in any suitable manner-as, for instance, by the pitman 40, connected with said cross-head and with an eccentric 41 on the shaft 25. The cross-h ead 37 has a yielding connection with the crosshead 39, so that when depressed thereby until its die comes into contact with the article to be branded it will bear upon said article with a yielding pressure. To this end springs 42 are interposed between the two cross-heads. In the particular construction shown the branding device is one which employs for the heating thereof a mixture of air and gas supplied under pressure from separate sources, and when this form of branding device is employed I prefer to utilize the supply-pipes as means for supporting the lower cross-head from the upper and for guiding the springs 42. In this construction 43 represents the gassupply pipe, and 44 the air-supply pipe. The lower ends of these pipes are connected to the heater 35, whence they extend up through the lower cross-head 37 and also loosely through the upper cross-head 39, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The portions of the pipes 43 and 44 above the crosshead 39 are threaded to receive nuts 45, which rest upon the cross-head 39, and thereby support the cross-head 37 and its die when the part-s are raised. rlhe pipes 43 and 44 are also threaded below the cross-head 39 to receive nuts 46, and the springs 42 are coiled around those portions ot said pipes which lie between the said nuts 46 and the under side of the cross-head 39, the ends of said springs bearing against said nuts and said cross-head. It is obvious that the normal position ot the two cross-heads relatively to each other and the tension ofthe springs 42 may be regulated by adjusting the nuts 45 and 46 upon the parts to which they are applied. A iieXible connecting-pipe 47 connects the gas-pipe 43 with a suitable source of supply of gas under pressure, while a similar iexible connecting-pipe 48 connects the air-pipe 44 with a source of supply of air under pressure.

In order to provide for the arrest of the chain of carriers after the pawl 32 has ceased to advance the ratchet-wheel 33, I provide a braking device consisting of a brake-wheel 49, secured on the shaft 2, in conjunction with which I employ a brake-lever 50, pivoted at its lower end to the frame, as indicated at 51, and bearing at its middle portion upon the periphery of the wheel 49. The upper end of. the lever 50 is slotted, as indicated at 52, to receive a guiding projection 53 of an arm 54, secured at its other end to a standard 55. The action of the brake-lever upon the brakewheel is regulated by means of a'spring 56, which bears against the upper end of the lever 50 and against an adjustable nut 57 on a rod 58,eXtending from the standard 55 through a suitable aperture in the upper end of the lever 50, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l of the drawings. Adjustment of the nut 57 will regulate the pressure of the brake-lever 50 against the brake-wheel 59 in an obvious manner.

The operation of my improved branding apparatus will be readily understood from the preceding description.

When the machine is in operation, the hams are placed upon the saddles or supports 10, the latter having been previously adjusted upon their bed-plates 9 in such a manner as to present to the action ot the branding-iron that portion of the ham upon which it is desired to impress the brand. The carriers are successively advanced by the intermittent motion imparted to them by the mechanism for that purpose, and as each carrier, with its load, rests firmly upon the top of the wheel 3 the feeding motion is arrested and the branding-die descends. After the branding is effected the carrier again moves, so as to bear oit the articlel just branded and substitute another to be branded in its stead. The branded hams are discharged from their carriers as these latter pass around the wheel 3. The yielding pressure with which the branding-die is pressed against the article to be branded prevents injury to the article and obviates any danger ot breakage of the machine, such provision being necessary owing to the irregularity in the size of the articles operated upon. The employment ot the braking device insures the arrest ot each carrier in the proper position relatively to the supporting-wheels and branding-die, While, as hereinbefore pointed out, the adjustment of the saddle or holder of each carrier permits the work to be presented to the die in any desired manner.

By use of this machine hams and other like articles may be marked or branded with great rapidity and accuracy in an automatic manner and at a minimum of expense for labor.

It will be observed that provision is made for a rigid abutment for supporting the carriers during the action of the yielding branding-die, one of the supporting-wheels constituting such abutment in the particular con- IOO IIO

struction shown, and by reason of this construction the machine is particularly adapted for the branding of hams and other like articles of considerable weight and widely-varying size.

It is obvious that various modifications in the details ot' construction may be made without departing from the principle of my invention. For instance, although the machine has been described as a machine for branding hams, it is obvious that certain features thereof might be embodied in machines for marking other articles. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting myself strictly to the precise details hereinbefore set forth and shown in the drawings.

I claiml. A machine for branding hams, dtc., comprising an endless chain of carriers,means for imparting thereto an intermittent motion, a branding-die movable toward and from said carriers, mechanism for yieldingly reciprocating said die, and a rigid abutment for successively supporting the carriers against the action of the die, substantially as described.

2. A machine for branding hams, duc., comprisin g an endless chain of carriers, means for imparting thereto an intermittent motion, a cross-head provided with a branding-die, a second cross-head with which said first crosshead is loosely connected, means for imparting a reciprocating movement to said second cross-head, springs interposed between said cross-heads, and a rigid abutment for successively supporting the carriers against action of the die, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for brandlnghams, duc., the combination,with an endless chain of carriers, of intermittentlymovable Wheels around which said carriers pass, one of said wheels constituting a rigid or non-yielding abutment for successively supporting the carriers, a reciprocating branding-die located above said wheel, and mechanism for yieldingly pressing said die toward a carrier as it rests upon said wheel, and for retracting said die, substantially as described.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with an endless chain of carriers, of means for imparting thereto an intermittent motion, two loosely-connected cross-heads, the one carrying a branding-die, means for imparting to the other reciprocating motion, springs interposed between said cross-heads, means for adjusting the action of said springs, and a rigid abutment for successively supporting the carriers against the action of the branding-die, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the character described,

the combination, with suitable means for presenting the articles to be branded, of a lower cross-head provided with a branding-die and its heater and parallel air and gas pipes arising therefrom and IieXibly connected with their sources of supply, a second cross-head connected with the actuating mechanism and through which said pipes pass loosely, adjustable abutments on said pipes above and below the upper cross-head, and springs surrounding said pipes between said upper crosshead and the lower abutments, substantially as described. 6. In a machine of the character described, a series of carriers each comprising a baseplate and a saddle or holder pivotally adjustable thereon, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the character described, i

iO. In a machine of the character described, v

a carrier comprising a holder or saddle having a body portion recessed to receive the body of the ham, and a raised shoulder notched to receive the hook of the ham and hold the same in an elevated position, substantially as described.

11. In a machine ofthe character described, a carrier comprising a base-plate and a saddle or holder adjustable thereon and provided with a recess to receive the body of the ham, a notch communicating therewith and extend ing to the margin ot the holder to receive the hock of the ham when the body thereof is to be branded, and a raised shoulder to receive the hoek of the ham when this latter is to be branded, substantially as described.

ROBERT D. KINYON.

W'itnesses:

IRVINE MILLER, FREDERICK C. GooDwrN.

IOO 

